A/R: Angry minister orders GRA to unlock traders’ shops

The Ashanti regional minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has directed officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to unlock shops of traders at the Kumasi Central Market following complaints over exorbitant tax.

The traders who previously paid GHC500 are now taxed GHC1, 300, a situation they described as unfortunate.

Speaking in an interview with Ultimate FM’s Isaac Bediako, the Queen mother of the cloth sellers at Kumasi Central Market Mary Nkrumah asked government to explain the hike in taxes.

The traders have threatened to stage demonstration against the ruling government over the astronomical increase of taxes.

“For over a month now, we have received several complaints from traders in Kumasi specifically from central market, so the deputy minister went there and met with the various heads of the small and medium tax payers office to the regional coordinating council after which an investigation was conducted.

“During the investigation, we tasked them not to lock up any shop only for us to be notified that the shops of these markets have been locked. And we found out that the tax increment was over 100percent and that’s abnormal,” he said.

He explained that the GRA’s tax increment in the Kumasi metropolis is abnormal hence the need to stop them from taking new taxes from the market women.